DongA Bank gets shareholder approval to explore acquisitions

HCM CITY (VNS)— Shareholders of the joint stock DongA Bank have given the green light for its board to explore mergers with or acquisition of other lenders as part of its restructure plans.

Tran Phuong Binh, its general director, said on the sidelines of the meeting that some banks are interested in integrating with his bank.

At the annual general meeting last Saturday shareholders also approved a plan to increase chartered capital by VND1 trillion to VND6 trillion ($285 million).

Existing shareholders will be entitled to buy one new share for every five they own at the face value of VND10,000.

They approved the appointment of former central bank governor Cao Sy Kiem as the new chairman.

This year the bank hopes to increase its assets by 18 per cent to VND89 trillion, deposits by 20 per cent to VND78.5 trillion($3.7 billion), and outstanding loans by 10 per cent to VND 63.6 trillion($3.02 billion).— VNS